Art Basel, the renowned international art show, kicked off with a flurry of high-value transactions on its first day, indicating a promising revival for art fairs. Works by esteemed artists such as

Louise Bourgeois, George Condo, Alexander Calder, and Swiss-born Paul Klee were among the pieces fetching millions of dollars.

Last year, the Hauser & Wirth gallery made headlines when it sold Louise Bourgeois' room-filling spider sculpture "Maman" for $40 million (CHF 36 million). This year, they continued their success by selling a smaller spider sculpture ("Spider IV" from 1996) for $22.5 million on the opening day. Hauser & Wirth reported a strong performance with several million-dollar sales, including a painting by popular US artist George Condo ($5.5 million) and a painting by Philip Guston ($9.5 million). Another painting by Bourgeois was acquired for $2.75 million.

The Belgian gallery Xavier Hufkens also experienced fruitful transactions with Bourgeois, selling one of her sculptures for $2.5 million. Modernist classics were also in high demand, with a Paul Klee artwork reportedly fetching between $3 million and $4 million at Di Doma New York. Additionally, several Alexander Calder sculptures were purchased for prices ranging from $675,000 to $2.8 million at Pace, London.

Notably, the fabric sculpture "United Blue" created in 2023 by Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui was sold by the South African gallery Goodman for $1.9 million, adding to the collection of million-dollar sales.

Taking place from June 15 to 18, the prestigious annual art fair is held in the city of Basel, located in northwest Switzerland. With the remarkable sales observed during the opening day, Art Basel sets a promising tone for the event, signaling a strong market for the art world. Photo by Manfred Kielnhofer, Wikimedia commons.